It's almost confirmed that the iPad Mini 2 release date later this year will not serve Retina screen resolution on the upgrade menu, propping up further the already solid prospects of Google's Nexus 7 2.

According to Economic Daily News, a Chinese publication, scaling Retina to suit the Mini 2 feature and body-build remains an unanswered question for Apple's manufacturing collaborators. The prevailing indication is, Apple will delay the Mini 2 with Retina arrival until early next year.

In any case, the U.S. firm will still push out a second version of the million-selling iPad Mini by Q4 2013 but as insisted by Ming-chi Kuo of KGI Securities and Glenn Yeung of Citi Research in the past months, Retina is out of the picture.

With the Mini 2 likely to replicate the 1024 x 768 resolution and 162ppi pixel density seen in the first edition, Android fans gained more grounds to stay in the system, more so with the looming rollout of the heavily-updated Nexus 7 2.

And below are three additional reasons to steer away from the iPad Mini 2 this year.

The Nexus 7 2 display screen trounces the Mini 2

While it boasts off the Apple pedigree, the first iPad Mini was underwhelmed in many respects by the first Nexus 7. If the former will only carry over most the specs of the initial build, the tussle this year is only a repeat of the 2012 dogfight.

The iOS 7-powered Mini 2 will merely inherit the screen attributes of the iPad 2 and iPad 3 while on the other hand, Nexus 7 2 will deliver an upscale 1920 x 1200 display resolution that likely will lead to 300-plus pixels per inch. Such serving will surely outpace the small Apple tablet, at least with Retina shying away from this year's showcase.

The Nexus 7 2 is surely the faster tablet

Analysts believe that the Mini 2, even in the absence of Retina, is definitely an upgrade from last year. The general forecast is it will carry a faster CPU but this claim at the moment is backed by no specific details. In fact the whole Mini 2 component composition remains a guessing game.

Not the case with the second Nexus 7. Asus already hinted that the tablet could be any of the K008 or K009 leaked out in the past few weeks, or both. The revelation, at least, provided a clearer picture for would-be buyers that they'll be getting a power-packed gizmo, making for a snappy and glitch-free 7-inch tablet use.

Chief candidates for the Nexus 7 2 engine are the Snapdragon 800 or 600, any of which will make the tablet speedy both in performing tasks and in accessing the very world wide web out there, thanks to the on-board LTE chip. One big bonus is the CPU's efficient use of battery power, ensuring that the gadget will hum away more working and fun hours than ever before.

Uniform global availability for the Nexus 7 2

Like its older brother, Google's new small tablet will appear on the Play Store, which indicates that availability is simultaneous in major markets like the United States, Europe and Australia. Other destinations will surely follow as distributors, telcos and retailers will surely pick up the device to be packaged with their respective services.

Such prospects, analysts said, will redound to the advantage of consumers as the tablet's already accessible price range, from $199 to $250, will become more attractive. In many instances, depending on market location, the first Nexus 7 was given away for free to lure customers into contracts, which should be applied too shortly after the Nexus 7 2 release date.

Experts wager that Nexus 7 2 will hit the global market either late July or early August and watchers should keep an eye on Google Play Store, where initially the small tablet will turn up.